Junocam, Juno Jupiter Orbiter

Junocam will acquire 3-color (red, green, blue) images of Jupiter during Juno’s first seven orbits around the giant planet. The data will be processed and studied by students as part of the Juno Education and Public Outreach effort. A photo of the Junocam electronics box (left) and camera head (right) are shown.

Launch: August 2011

Jupiter Arrival: October 2016

Camera Status: At KSC, installed on the orbiter

Junocam will support the Juno Mission’s Education and Public Outreach program. The camera, derived from the MSL MARDIinstrument, is designed to acquire red-, green- and blue-wavelength images of Jupiter’s polar regions and lower-latitude cloud tops during Juno’s first seven orbits around the planet. These images, of approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) per pixel resolution, will be used by students to create the first color images of the jovian poles, as well as high resolution views of lower-latitude cloud belts. After the required, seven orbit design life, Junocam will continue to operate as long as possible in the harsh jovian radiation environment.

The Juno mission to Jupiter is a project led by Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), San Antonio, Texas. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, is managing the project, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver, Colorado, is building the spacecraft